1. Field of the Invention
The invention refers to an outside rear-view mirror for a motor vehicle having a reverse gear. The outside rear-view mirror comprises a mirror housing adapted for being mounted to a body of the vehicle. A mirror glass is held by the mirror housing and a drive motor is provided for tilting the mirror glass about at least one axis with respect to the vehicle.
2. Background of the Invention
An outside rear-view mirror for a vehicle is disclosed in published German Patent Application No. 2,715,575 in the mirror housing of which a drive motor for tilting a mirror glass is mounted. The drive motor is coupled to the mirror glass by a reduction gear which allows tilting the mirror glass about an axis when the drive motor is activated. The axis extends substantially horizontally, if the outside rear-view mirror is fastened to the body of the car. The drive motor may be activated by manipulating a switch by the driver over a period of time until the mirror glass has assumed a position in good adjustment to the seating position of the driver.
For cars having left hand drive an additional outside rear-view mirror is commonly mounted to the right side of the car body for allowing the driver a view on what is happening on the right side behind his car, particularly during overtaking.
The driver's particular skill is necessary when maneuvering the vehicle rearwardly into a parking space between two cars in a lane, particularly in situations, when the parking space is limited laterally by an elevated curb stone, a post or similar impediments not visible to the driver. So far, the driver of cars having left-hand drive has no view on the right rearward end of his car because the right-hand outside rear-view mirror is misadjusted for such purpose. Thus, the driver has to readjust manually his right hand outside rear-view mirror such that he may obtain a view on the situation proximate to the rearward right-hand portion of his car.
Such readjustment of the right-hand outside rear-view mirror therefore requires a specific manipulation by the driver, which is inconvenient as the position of the outside rear-view mirror on the car body is normally outside the range of the driver's hands. Therefore, he has to leave his driving position for carrying out such readjustment. Moreover, such readjustment creates the risk that the driver misses to return the mirror glass of the outside rear-view mirror to a normal driving position when he continues to run the car forwardly. Therefore, an adjustment of the mirror glass to a situation of maneuvering the car rearwardly into a parking space inherently creates a safety problem after again starting the car.